A'S NOTEBOOK / Harden wins clincher, may be big for playoffs

2006-09-27 04:00:00 PDT Seattle -- Rich Harden recorded the division-clinching victory for the A's on Tuesday night, a nice sidelight on a big day for the club.

Harden missed most of the season with injuries, but the team's record in his starts this season is 8-0, and he could be an important addition for the postseason.

"It's been a frustrating year for me," Harden said. "I've watched what they've done, and I've been a big fan of this team watching it, but to be a part of something like tonight is amazing."

After his performance Tuesday, there's little doubt that Harden will be in the postseason rotation, although manager Ken Macha has not yet officially announced that. On a limited pitch count, Harden threw five scoreless innings and allowed only two hits and a walk, and he also struck out five -- without really having his best stuff, according to Harden.

He threw 76 pitches in all, and he's expected to be around 100 in his next time outing, which is the final regular-season game at Anaheim on Sunday.

"The fact that Rich was able to go out tonight and do this a few hours from his home (in Victoria, B.C.) is a credit to Rich and to the medical staff," A's general manager Billy Beane said.

Kotsay out: He was supposed to be back in the starting lineup but instead, Mark Kotsay was out with a slight groin pull. He is listed as day-to-day, and trainer Larry Davis said that holding him out was primarily to keep a small problem from turning into a more major one, especially because Kotsay has to cover a lot of ground in center field. Davis described the injury as "not terribly serious" and said that Kotsay did it during his final at-bat Monday.

Shortstop Bobby Crosby (back) is doing some "simple, low-level" rotational exercises, according to Davis. He called it a "small first step" for Crosby.

Checking on Street: Macha said that bullpen coach Brad Fischer planned to double-check Huston Street's mechanics after the A's closer gave up five hits and three runs on Monday, simply to "make sure he's doing everything right," Macha said.

An American League scout who has seen Street numerous times this season said he thought Street showed signs of having a dead-arm on Monday.